The Prophetess and the Darkness
by John Reed
Summary: Shortly after "Awakened", Aphrodite is approached by Zoey with an unexpected request. There are spoilers for all of the books to date  but really, if you haven't read them, why would you be here?...
1. Love and Hurt

_I suppose this came out of the frustration that my beloved "hag from hell" didn't get the credit she deserved in "Awakened", but I'll never think she's treated well enough. Anyway, here is my lame attempt to right the wrong (and maybe project what will happen in the next book...)_

"Aphrodite, you know that's not what I meant."

The Prophetess scowled at her warrior. "I don't know what else you could have meant and I don't know why the hell you're bringing it up at all!"

He heard her words, but her blue eyes didn't reflect her words. He could swear those eyes were hiding pain.

She was a talker and a complainer. She was a bitch and princess. And she always doted over him, paid attention to him, appreciated him.

She was none of this since they had left the House of Night, left Neferet in power, followed Zoey.

Of course following Zoey was normal. She was as devoted to Zoey as she was to him. Aphrodite could be, and usually was, demeaning and bitchy to everyone but him and the High Priestess.

Though if he understood correctly, she had been just as awful to Zoey before Neferet had pulled her from power as head of the Dark Daughters, and had given that title to Zoey. He didn't know her then, and he found almost unbelievable the stories that the Fledglings she called the "Nerd Herd" told about her. Almost. He had seen glimpses of that Aphrodite, but only glimpses.

What might be even harder for him to understand was that, after all that had happened to her, she still helped Zoey. Just listening to Aphrodite and the others, Zoey was not very nice about it and the Nerd Herd was impossibly cruel to her. But for some reason, she had told Zoey about the visions she kept having - allowing Zoey's grandmother, Heath and others to be saved.

He knew that Aprodite had a difficult time before he came to the Tulsa House of Night. Zoey still barely tolerated her, but for some reason –Aphrodite would say Nyx – she helped Zoey, took the abuse, and before it was done, sacrificed herself to save Zoey's best friend and a number of other fledglings.

The cruelty towards Aphrodite was still there when he arrived at the House of Night with his brother warriors. He hadn't shown it, but he was smitten from the first sight of the strikingly beautiful blonde. He jumped at the chance to be with her when she and Zoey left the school to go to town. He watched the blonde beauty as she helped and showed her devotion to the uniquely marked fledgling, and he became even more infatuated with her.

He watched as his beauty and the young high priestess became inseparable. When she trusted him and he asked why she changed she would say she hadn't. She was devoted to Nyx. When she thought that meant Neferet, she was devoted to the high-priestess-gone-bad. When she figured out it meant Zoey, she put aside her grievances and worked with Zoey, though she admitted it was hard to do.

She had little use for the rest of Zoey's friends, though she had grown closer to Stevie Rae since the imprint incident. Aphrodite was always high-maintenance, even more so while she was imprinted with the Red High Priestess. He handn't minded. He knew Stevie Rae was alive and coherent because of Aphrodite, Stevie Rae and all of the red fledglings.

Her past was difficult to understand. One thing he did understand, though was that Aphrodite spoke of Zoey and Nyx in the same tone, with the same degree of respect. When she trusted him, she spoke of her and Zoey and their meeting with Nyx. He knew that the High Priestess survived the shattering of her soul because Aphrodite had been close enough to Nyx that the Goddess showed her what Stark needed to do to bring her back, because Aphrodite had been able to get the message to Stark.

He could pretend that he had been drawn to her because he could see Nyx in her, but that would only be pretending. He was drawn to her strength, her beauty, her intelligence, perhaps even her coarseness. It was hard to imagine her chosen of Nyx, but she was. He had seen it time after time in her and in the way Zoey treated her, listened to her, consulted with her.

Which made it all the more unbelievable that she could have taken what he would see as a slight, a snub so easily. True, she seemed more like herself before he brought it up, but he thought they had to talk about it, they had to deal with it.

"Nyx appeared and talked to everyone but you," he said. "How did that make you feel."

The blonde's stare became icy, her tone harsh. "I was there, Darius! She was talking to me along with everyone else."

"But she acknowledged Zoey, the ravenmocker, Damien, Neferet, Stevie Rae, even Dragon, but not you."

"Are you doubting that I know her? Do you not believe what I've told you?"

She glared at her warrior, angry and upset with him, but grateful that he didn't back down. He never backed down. He understood her, accepted her and, if needed, argued with her as an equal.

"You know I believe you, Aphrodite. I've seen more than enough. I just need to be sure you're OK, that her distance didn't upset you."

The Prophetess' eyes stared at him coldly at first, then softened. He wasn't Eric or the twins, he wasn't challenging her. He deserved better than this, better than her. Why was he still here?

She spoke softly and let her eyes drop. "I've heard her voice time after time, I've seen her face to face, I've given myself to her as she carried me to the Otherworld, she's comforted me while showing me the most awful things. I know she loves me, she has told me so herself. She can pay attention to others now, she's given me enough."

Darius just looked at the human he loved. He still thought he saw some pain there, some hurt, but he was wondering if he had caused it.

They were looking at each other when they heard a knock at the door, the door to the small quarters they shared since leaving the House of Night.

Neither moved immediately - Darius came to his senses first. He quickly moved to the door as Aphrodite regained her composure. Zoey and Stark were at the door.

"Hey, can we come in?" Zoey was smiling as she spoke to Aphrodite, but it didn't look quite right to the blonde.

"Sure, Z," Aphrodite said, eyes fixed on her friend as Darius and Stark greeted each other.

Zoey pulled her into a hug. Not really unusual, but she could feel the tension in the goddess-gifted Fledgling.

Zoey didn't speak, so Aphrodite asked the question she felt in the hug. "Do we need to talk alone?"

The High Priestess' nod was slight, but the Prophetess felt it. She looked to Darius and found his eyes.

"Go do something guy-ish with Arrow-Boy. We need a minute."

Stark was watching them as well, but didn't react. Darius nodded and, knowing Stark's unwillingness to leave Zoey's side while they were both awake, pulled Stark towards the door, "We'll be close," he said for the benefit of both Aphrodite and Stark.

Aphrodite silently watched them leave, Zoey had released her and taken a step back, but still faced her, eyes closed, head slightly bowed..

"Z?" the blonde asked the dark-haired Fledging softly.

Zoey lifted her head and opened her eyes. She was unsure as she spoke, unsure of the answer to her question, unsure if she should be asking it at all. She couldn't have asked it of anyone else. Aphrodite would get upset, but would listen to her, would talk to her, would be able to help her.

"Can you see darkness?"

The blonde studied the dark-haired, tattooed priestess. "What do you mean?"

"Can you see darkness? Like the darkness that was around Neferet? Can you see it?"

"Couldn't you?" Aphrodite was a little confused. She had thought it was visible to everyone.

"I think so, but I'm wondering if I imagined it. I'm wondering if I just saw it because I knew who she was for so long."

Aphrodite closed her eyes and nodded. "I can see it. I have to want to, but I can."

Zoey took a breath to help her resolve, and asked the question she had come to ask. "Can you see it in Stark?"

Aphrodite's eyes widened as she considered the question, "What the….Stark? Why would you ask? You know he loves you. You know what he's done for you."

Zoey didn't want to believe it herself, she didn't want to believe that she couldn't handle this herself. That she couldn't handle anything herself. But this was different, Stark was different. He had hurt her, something she never thought he would do. Something she knew he would never have considered doing. But he did it.

She had managed to snap him out of it, had managed to bring him back to his senses, but she had seen something.

"I know what he's done, Aphrodite, but you don't. You don't know what he did to me."

Aphrodite held her eyes and whispered, "Your Guardian?"

Zoey nodded. "I brushed it off the first time, but it happened again."

Zoey watched Aphrodite's expression change from shock to anger. "What the fuck did he do to you?"

"That's just it, I'm not so sure it was him."

Aphrodite just stared into the eyes of her High Priestess, the eyes of her friend. She had seen so much while she was with Zoey, but she had never seen this expression. Zoey had always known what to do, or at least she had always done something and it had worked out.

The Prophetess nodded. "I can see it, them – the threads of darkness."

Zoey had to force herself to ask the question, it did not come out easily. "Then will you tell me if you see them on Stark?"


	2. The Calls

The Call to Watch

"Oh for shit's sake! I know you're finally with the monster of your dreams but…"

Aphrodite's tirade was interrupted by the opening door. She was suddenly face to face with a blonde, irritated, Red High Priestess.

"Aphrodite, it hasn't been a minute since you knocked."

"You may have minutes to waste, but I don't. Darius will be done and back with me soon, and before then, I need to talk to you and your country-fried a…"

"Aphrodite! If you want me, you need to be nicer."

The blonde human closed her eyes and sighed. When she opened them again she really was trying to be nice. "Fine. Bumpkin, please give me a minute of your time - alone. Right. Now."

"Was that so hard?" Stevie Rae asked as she walked through the door to join Aphrodite in the hall.

Aphrodite's eyes were drawn to the dark-skinned guy that had been standing behind the bumpkin and who stayed in the room, though he was talking to Stevie Rae as he spoke.

"That was nice?"

The blonde priestess was nodding as she replied. "Oh yeah. She must be under some kind of 'nice spell', which I hope never wears off."

The Prophetess pull the door closed in exasperation, then turned to face Zoey's best friend. "Z's in trouble."

Stevie Rae's face changed quickly from amusement to surprise. "Trouble? What do you mean."

"Stark's been…doing things." She stopped, wondering if she was saying this right.

The vamp waited for more, then narrowed her eyes. "Stark saved her, brought her back from the Otherworld."

Aphrodite was suddenly irritated. "I was there, you weren't."

"Well that's what you and Zoey told me. What does it matter if I was there or not?"

Aphrodite had to close her eyes and take a calming breath. There was no time for this.

"Z said Stark has hurt her. They were screwing around when he bit her, hurting her. He wouldn't stop, even when she asked him to, not for awhile." Stevie Rae was listening now, eyes wide. "She let it go the first time, but when it happened again, she came to me. She thinks he might still have darkness with him."

Stevie Rae closed here eyes and shook her head violently. "Don't even joke about that Aphrodite."

"Z said it," the Prophetess emphasized. "She asked me to look at him to see if I could see it, but I couldn't."

"Did you tell her that – that you couldn't see it?"

"Yes," Aphrodite said, becoming annoyed again, getting nervous that Darius would appear anytime. "but she's still worried."

"He doesn't have darkness around him. I would have seen it."

"You haven't been looking for it."

"I still would have seen it, Aphrodite. I know it too well. So does Stark. Neither of us wants anything to do with it."

The human's blue eyes turned cold. "Both of you embraced it, as did the bird - …." She was nodding towards the door when he other blonde interrupted her.

"Both of us rejected it. And Rephaim saved me from it. None of us wants anything to do with it!"

The blondes glared at each other briefly before Aphrodite softened and bit her lip. "Z's really afraid. Please, just watch for it. She wants us both to watch for it."

Stevie Rae closed her eyes and rubbed her head before finally nodding her agreement. She opened her eyes when she heard Darius' voice. "There you are."

Darius bowed his head slightly to the Red High Priestess who gave a tired smile and nod in return.

"It's nearly dawn, Aphrodite," the Warrior said. "Stevie Rae needs to retire."

"We're done," Aphrodite said, though still facing Stevie Rae. 'Watch for it' she mouthed to the priestess before turning to leave with her warrior.

Stevie Rae turned and opened the door to join the raven mocker who had saved her, upset as usual with Aphrodite's behavior, but, as always, knowing that when the girl who had saved her life –twice– talked about Zoey, she needed to listen.

* * *

><p><span>The Call for Help<span>

"Stark! Stop. You're hurting me!"

Zoey felt the pain of the bite as she screamed. It didn't matter, he didn't stop.

Aphrodite had told her to be ready if it happened again. The High Priestess didn't want to believe it would, but she knew what she had to do.

"Fire come to me!" As always, the summoned element was instantly with her.

"Burn him – just enough to get him to stop biting me!"

He was instantly off of her, cringing in pain.

"Wind come to me," Zoey summoned. When she felt it swirl around her she said "Put him over there and keep him there." She pointed to a corner of the room.

She grimaced as she rubbed her neck, still not believing he had done it again. Really, like the other times, she wasn't sure he had done it. She had seen something again and, as she watched him in the corner, she could tell he was in pain and confused.

She knew fire had left him once he had left her. "Water, Spirit come to me." She pointed to her Guardian, pinned to the corner and said "go to him, comfort him."

She knew this couldn't continue – it was hurting them both. She pulled her phone out to call. She almost called Stevie Rae, but didn't know if Aphrodite had talked to her yet. Anyway, it was after sunrise, it would be a miracle if the Red High Priestess was still awake. It was because of Zoey that Stark was still awake – she had convinced him to do this, to stay up with her, tired as he was.

"Aphrodite?" She asked into the phone as her call was answered. "Please come here, and bring Darius. It's happened again."


End file.
